How JustAnswer Works:

Experts are full of valuable knowledge and are ready to help with any question. Credentials confirmed by a Fortune 500 verification firm.

Get a Professional Answer

Via email, text message, or notification as you wait on our site.Ask follow up questions if you need to.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Rate the answer you receive.

Ask Sam Your Own Question

Sam, Attorney at Law

Category: Legal

Satisfied Customers: 23531

Experience: 20 years of experience practicing law.

10707909

Type Your Legal Question Here...

Sam is online now

We have a neighbor who has several children. One of the children

Resolved Question:

We have a neighbor who has several children. One of the children is a 6-7 year old girl. The little girl screeches continually. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we hear the screech in our house with the windows closed. One time we were outside when she started screeching and my husband, who raised two daughters, asked her to be quiet, which she did. A few days later, when she was screeching, my husband spoke to her parents. He explained that he doesn't mind "outdoor" voices or when the kids are playing, but the screeching is too much. The parents agreed to stop the girl from screeching. This afternoon, the little girl was sitting in her backyard just screeching and screeching. My husband whistled out the backdrop. The kind of whistle that is very loud and might call a dog. The little girl went into the house. Then, later tonight, she started up again and my husband spoke to her father. My husband explained again that using "outdoor" voices and having fun is fine, but the screeching is too much.At the end of the conversation, the girl's father said, "you won't do this again" in a thinly veiled threat. As an aside, we put up with this screeching all last year, hoping she would grow out of it and didn't say anything, and another neighbor knocked on our door a few weeks ago and thanked us for stopping the little girl's screeching a few weeks ago. I understand that the last to points are moot. Finally, my husband raised two girls and the neighbor has two little girls, so we all understand tat children are loud, especially outside, but the screeching is way beyond kids having fun.

My question: What can we do and what if the screeching girl's family retaliates in some way?

I am an attorney with more than 25 years of experience and I look forward to providing you true and correct information in this regard.

Please remember, I can only answer what you ask and so if you have follow up questions, please post them here for full and accurate information before rating. If there are no other questions in this regard then I thank you in advance for your positive rating

Well, as long as she is not breaking any local noise ordinance, there is nothing that can be done. People, even children, have a right to make noise. I am sure it is very annoying and frustrating. But you cannot make someone keep quiet unless it is disturbing the peace and that would only occur if there is a noise ordinance in your county/town. That is usually a restriction that limits noise before 7 am or after 10 pm

I am not sure what you mean "retaliate" what do you think he might do?

Write them a letter to be mailed certified with a return receipt requested and in the letter state that the Screeching is just to much to bear.

State what you have told them about normal outside playing. But that this is like nails on a chalk board and just too much to handle.

In the meantime, call you City/Town Council and get a copy of any noise ordinance. I am unable to locate the local ordinances online or I would get it for you

Read what that says - and you may feel that she is in violation of that. If so include a copy of it in your letter with a request that they PLEASE try to curtail her behavior.

Mail the letter certified with a return receipt requested and see what the response is. Maybe you can get your neighbors to sign the letter to show community support and that it is not just you and your husband who is annoyed by it

Of course, you cannot do anything about any retaliation until it happens. But if it does, you call the police and report it, naming your neighbor as a suspect and show them a copy of the letter you mailed which would show cause as to why they might retaliate.

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

What Customers are Saying:

Mr. Kaplun clearly had an exceptional understanding of the issue and was able to explain it concisely. I would recommend JustAnswer to anyone. Great service that lives up to its promises!Gary B.Edmond, OK

Mr. Kaplun clearly had an exceptional understanding of the issue and was able to explain it concisely. I would recommend JustAnswer to anyone. Great service that lives up to its promises!Gary B.Edmond, OK

My Expert was fast and seemed to have the answer to my taser question at the tips of her fingers. Communication was excellent. I left feeling confident in her answer.EricRedwood City, CA

I am very pleased with JustAnswer as a place to go for divorce or criminal law knowledge and insight.
MichaelWichita, KS

PaulMJD helped me with questions I had regarding an urgent legal matter. His answers were excellent. Three H.Houston, TX

Anne was extremely helpful. Her information put me in the right direction for action that kept me legal, possible saving me a ton of money in the future. Thank you again, Anne!! ElaineAtlanta, GA

It worked great. I had the facts and I presented them to my ex-landlord and she folded and returned my deposit. The 50 bucks I spent with you solved my problem. TonyApopka, FL

Not only did he answer my Michigan divorce question but was also able to help me out with it, too. I have since won my legal case on this matter and thank you so much for it. LeeMichigan

Ask a Lawyer

Get a Professional Answer. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

129 Lawyers are Online Now

Type Your Legal Question Here...

characters left:

DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.

The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service (last updated February 8, 2012).